United States Citizenship Through Parents

Claiming U.S. Citizenship for a Child Born Abroad

Presently, you must please multiply conditions to establish a claim to U.S. citizenship for a child born outside of the United States:

• At least one of the parents has to be a U.S. citizen at the time of the child’s birth;
• The child born abroad continues to be under the age of 18;
• The parent has to establish a relationship with the child – either biological or legal (including adoptive parents); and
• S. citizen parent must have been physically present in the United States.

Adult Children Born Abroad May Claim U.S. Citizenship through Parents

If you were born abroad to two U.S. citizen parents and at least one of your parents lived in the United States for some time, then in most cases you are a U.S. citizen. Also, if you were born overseas to one U.S. citizen, on or after November 14, 1986, you are probably a U.S. citizen if all of the following are accurate:

• One of your parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of your birth
• Your U.S. citizen parent lived as a minimum as five years in the United States before you were born
• Minimum two of the five years in the United States were after your U.S. citizen parent’s 14th birthday.

When a Child Becomes a US Citizen through Parents after Birth 

For getting US citizenship through parents after birth, the following three criteria must be fulfilled at the same time:

• At least one of the child’s parents is a U.S. citizen by birth or naturalization;
• The child is a permanent resident under 18 years of age; and
• The child is living in or has lived in the United States in the lawful and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent.

You may apply for U.S. Citizenship Through Parents online or by paper.

File online

Create a USCIS online account to file online and:

• Submit sufficient evidence and pay appropriate fees;
• Accept case status updates about your case and see whole case history;
• Communicate with USCIS
• Reply to requests for more documents.
• If you already have a USCIS online account, simply sign into your accountto get started.

File by Paper

• Read the guidelines for Form N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship;
• Complete and sign your Form N-600;
• Pay the filing fee, if applicable;
• Submit all essential evidence and supporting documentation.
• Want status updates about your case? Learn how to create a USCIS online accountto stay informed.

After You File

Once USCIS receives your Form N-600, you will receive a:

• Receiving notice confirming USCIS received your application;
• Biometric services notice,
• Notice to attend for an interview,
• Notice of decision.

If you were born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent overseas and you have a request for citizenship, you may apply for a U.S. passport in the same way as someone born in the United States. But you will have the additional requirement of establishing your citizenship claim. The evidence you’ll need to have on hand might include:

• your overseas birth certificate, demonstrating your relationship to your parent
• Proper evidence of your parent’s U.S. citizenship
• your parent’s marital documents
• Documents that verify that your parent fulfilled U.S. residency requirements or was physically present in the U.S. for the required duration to pass on U.S. citizenship to you, and
• evidence that you fulfilled any essential residency requirements, or that you were excused from doing so because you didn’t know about the immigration rule.

The application fee for the U.S. Citizenship Through Parents or by Birth is $1,170.00 (Biological Child of US Citizen)